adwokat dr Piotr Sobański LL.M. - Divorce in Poland. Selected aspects

In the Polish legal system, divorce proceedings fall within the exclusive jurisdiction of the civil court; there is no legal basis for resolving a marriage through the agreement of the spouses or through administrative procedures.
Article 56 of the Polish Family and Guardianship Code outlines the circumstances under which a marriage can be terminated legally. Article 56 reads as follow:
§ 1. If there is a complete and permanent breakdown in the relationship between spouses, each spouse may request that the court dissolve the marriage through divorce.
§ 2. However, despite the complete and permanent breakdown of the relationship, divorce is not permissible if it would harm the well-being of the couple's minor children or if, for other reasons, granting a divorce would contradict the principles of social coexistence.
§ 3. Divorce is also not permissible if it is requested solely by the spouse at fault for the breakdown of the marriage, unless the other spouse consents to the divorce or the refusal of their consent in the given circumstances contradicts the principles of social coexistence.
The breakdown of marital life belongs to the category of legal concepts for which it must be assumed from the outset that a strict statutory definition is not possible. The task of defining this concept falls to case law and legal literature. All attempts to define this concept start with defining the concept of shared marital life.
Shared life, as understood in Article 23 of the Family and Guardianship Code, consists of the spiritual, physical, and economic bond between spouses, which is the purpose of marriage and enables the fulfillment of its basic tasks.
The positive condition for divorce is fulfilled when the breakdown of marital relations is permanent and complete.
Pursuant to the judgment of the Supreme Court of 4 February 1998, II CKN 582/97: "The only condition for the dissolution of a marriage through divorce, according to Article 56 § 1 of the Family and Guardianship Code, is a complete and permanent breakdown of the marital relationship." In the Judgment of 5 May 1999, III CKN 863/98, the Supreme Court stated as follows: "The breakdown of the marriage between the parties is characterized by both durability and completeness." (...)

 

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